Ham & jalapeño egg muffins

My low carb keto Ham & jalapeño egg muffins recipe turned out lovely! Fluffy eggs whipped with cream, crispy bacon & smoky ham with a creamy cheesy center, and little bits of peppers and onions. Better than Starbucks’ sous vide breakfast bites (but with a bubbly, slightly chewy, cheesy top) and only 1 carb per muffin. I’ve been making egg muffins for years and they’re always different, but I think these are my fave kind, so far. The secret ingredients: A sprinkle of Creole seasoning and teaspoon of yellow mustard (0ptional, but they really add a little something!).

INGREDIENTS

2 teaspoons bacon fat
3 slices bacon, chopped
6 ounces diced ham
10 grams shallots, chopped
28 grams, green peppers, diced
1/2 to 1 small jalapeño pepper, minced
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder (optional, makes them fluffy)
6 large eggs
Salt & pepper (to taste)
2 teaspoons prepared yellow mustard (or 1/8 tsp or less, dry mustard)
1/4 teaspoon Creole Seasoning (I use Tony Chachere’s)
4 ounces smoked Gouda cheese, grated

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350°F

In a skillet, fry the bacon* until crisp, remove and set aside, leaving bacon grease in the pan. Increase heat to medium, and fry the diced ham until crisped up a bit. Add the green peppers and onions and saute until slightly browned. There may be some bacon grease remaining in the pan, reserve it for later.

While cooking the ham and peppers, you can prepare the eggs. In a medium bowl with high sides, crack in the eggs and add the heavy cream, salt & pepper, mustard, Creole seasoning, and baking powder. Beat the mixture until frothy and doubled in volume, using egg beaters, or a whisk.

Chop or crumble the bacon strips into small pieces and combine them with the ham and peppers, either pushing them all to the side of the skillet away from the bacon grease, or using a slotted spoon, into a small bowl. Grate or finely chop the gouda cheese.

Grease a muffin tray (I use silicone, it’s the only type that hasn’t trapped these into Egg Muffin Jail by sticking stubbornly!) with the bacon grease from earlier, using a brush or paper towel. If using a silicone muffin tray, place it onto a sturdy baking sheet, rimmed pan, or baking stone, so as to steady it.

Place a spoonful of the cheese into each muffin cavity, and top with a small mound of the meat mixture, then pour enough of the egg mixture to cover over all. There should be enough to fill up 12 cavities in a standard muffin tray.

Bake for 30-35 minutes. The muffins will rise dramatically, that’s okay, because they will collapse a bit once finished baking.

NOTES:

If you don’t have Creole seasoning, just mix up a little garlic powder, paprika, ground rosemary, fine black pepper, and salt together.

* You can save some time by using precooked bacon, just chop it and add it to the ham and peppers when ready to fill the muffin cavities.

There’s TONS more breakfast recipes in my ebook, Diabetic to Ketogenic: Reclaim Your Health With Real Food